The building dilema.

We have been discussing for months what building should be built first.

We envision a community building that is large enough to hold a community meeting, or for a visiting group to be able to hold a meeting in the building. It should allow us to feed a large group in one seating. But such a building, even with a frugal construction manager and the use of found materials where possible, might be much more expensive than our current members can afford. As our number grows, the cost per adult of the community building drops.

Individual members will only build homes for themselves that they can afford. We cannot expect anyone to build extra living space to house visitors to the community other than their own personal invitees.

So what comes first?

We are leaning toward building a large barn first. The positive benefits of this plan are many.

In the loft of a large barn we would have space to build two apartments while leaving the ground floor available for other purposes. Family units could move to one of the apartments while building their eventual homes. As their home became ready, each family would move to it from their apartment, freeing that apartment for the next family to move on site.

During periods when an apartment was not needed, the space would be used to house visitors, interns, or visiting groups.

This plan will allow some of us to move on site earlier.

The uses for the ground floor of a barn are almost too numerous to list here. We need a place right now to store building materials, supplies, equipment, things that we might have the opportunity to acquire as we find it. We will need a place to build things like signs, cold frames, bird houses, shelving and lots of others. We will need space to start seeds, store garden supplies and protect non-hardy plants through freezing seasons. We will need to store equipment that should not be left outdoors. The list goes on.

Of course new barns are expensive also, so we have decided to look for standing barns that are no longer wanted where they stand. Barns are available from businesses that dismantle them, catalog their parts, and document how to reassemble them elsewhere. These, though, are not necessarily less expensive than starting from scratch as there is a significant cost to taking down a barn.

We are also keeping our eyes open as we travel through the area. Fewer than ten years ago I found, in a single day, three barns whose owners were willing to give them away in exchange for the property being completely cleaned off. Such opportunities are not so readily found today, but we will continue looking. Ideal would be an historic barn from close by that we could preserve and show to visitors.

As you read this post, if you know of a barn that might be available, please let us know at the community's email address.